Europe's Accelerated Aging Problem

By

Richard Barley

Jan. 21, 2013 10:49 a.m. ET

The jury is still out on whether nations are emerging wiser from the global financial crisis that started in 2008. But it is certain that they are emerging older. Governments in many developed markets have lost valuable time in addressing an inexorable force: the pressure that aging populations will put on public finances. That is particularly true in Europe, because of its intense fiscal crisis.

The future for many countries is one of shrinking working populations supporting growing numbers of elderly people. On average,...